Positive Outlook For Irish Racing

Horse Racing Ireland has issued a positive bulletin over the state of the Irish racing industry. Having compiled the 2016 key performance indicators HRI announced increases in most key areas including the sale of Irish bloodstock, racecourse attendances, the numbers of horses in training and new owners registered. The value of bloodstock sold at public auction has been on an upward curve for a number of years now and the graph rose again in 2016 by 7.7% to €164m. The perceived dearth of new owners entering the sport and the increase in active owners dropping out of racing has been cited as a reason for clearance rates falling at Irish sales and it is encouraging to see a slight increase in new owner activity. 705 new owners were registered with HRI in 2016 which was a 9.5% increase on 2015. This rise in turn boosts the number of horses in training, a figure that grew, albeit by only 4.2% to 8,561.

 
One area that continues to fall year on year is the amount punters spend betting on-course. Despite a strong year for Tote Ireland, aided by the growth of betting into Irish pools from international customers, total on-course betting, including Bookmakers and SP Shops fell by almost 5% to €88.6m. This was despite a small increase in total attendances throughout the year which reached 1.32m, a 3.3% rise on 2015. A positive note about betting was the increase in Off-Course Betting Duty Receipts which grew 63% to €50.7m.

 
Commenting on the statistics HRI CEO Brian Kavanagh said, “2016 was a very positive year for Irish racing and we are looking forward to building on this as we face the challenges ahead of us in 2017. For the first time ever, Irish-trained horses won the 'big five' races in Britain – the Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup, Grand National, Derby and Oaks, as well as numerous other Grade 1 races. Off the track, significant developments included the conclusion of a long term [up to 2023] media rights deal for Irish racing, the granting of planning permission for the new Curragh development and the commitment by the Government of a further €6m to the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund. On a sadder note, 2016 saw racing lose a lot of friends, including John Thomas McNamara who passed away in July following his long battle with injuries sustained at Cheltenham in 2013.“

 
Kavanagh continued, “Horse racing generates a very significant return to the rural economy in Ireland and positive international profile for our country. In 2017, HRI will continue to build on the growth achieved in 2016 and to tackle the challenges, particularly in relation to funding, employment levels, ownership and integrity. None of this success could be achieved without the support provided by Government and HRI believes that this can be fully funded through betting duty which, as the statistics show, increased by 63% this year, following the introduction of new off-shore betting tax legislation in 2015.”